{"id":13891,"date":"2022-05-03T12:44:46","date_gmt":"2022-05-03T10:44:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.historyextra.com\/?p=207535"},"modified":"2022-05-03T13:02:10","modified_gmt":"2022-05-03T11:02:10","slug":"what-does-cinco-de-mayo-commemorate","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/rss_feed\/what-does-cinco-de-mayo-commemorate\/","title":{"rendered":"What does Cinco de Mayo commemorate?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Elinor Evans\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 03 May 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Sometimes confused with Mexico\u2019s Independence Day (which is on 16 September), Cinco de Mayo commemorates the Mexican army\u2019s victory over invading French troops at the battle of Puebla on 5 May 1862. Despite it having been a significant moment in Mexican history, Cinco de Mayo is not a national holiday in Mexico. In fact, its biggest celebrations take place in the United States.<\/p>\n

This is because people of Mexican heritage in California were some of the first to formalise commemorations of this epic victory over foreign invaders. In 1862, the French emperor Napoleon III sent soldiers to support Mexican conservatives. Recently defeated in civil war, these men wanted to overthrow the liberal, democratically elected president, Benito Ju\u00e1rez, and replace him with a European emperor: Habsburg archduke Ferdinand Maximilian<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Read more | Peace, stability and pragmatism: a brief history of US-Mexico relations<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
To achieve this, the French army needed to occupy Mexico City. The French commander in chief of the expeditionary force, Charles Ferdinand Latrille, Comte de Lorencez, was arrogantly confident: \u201cWe have over the Mexicans such superiority of race, organisation, discipline, [and] morality . . . that now at the head of 6,000 soldiers I am the master of Mexico\u201d. In May 1862, his army deployed before Puebla, Mexico\u2019s second city and key point on the route to the capital.<\/p>\n
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